Curbing empire sprawl with compatible DNA

[kwanzaabot]

So if you're from an arid world, you can live on any arid world. If you're from a methane world, you can live on any methane world. Karst worlders can settle any karst world, and so on and so on.
I think that makes things too easy.

I'd like to propose a new variable to determine what planets you're able to settle, Base Pairs and another that's mostly for flavour, that every species (save for anomalies) in your galaxy shares: Nucleic Acids.

Forgive me if I get some of the science wrong, I'm no biochemist, lol

Base Pairs​

On Earth, we use five paired nucleobases for our DNA: Adenine, which pairs with Thymine in DNA or Uracil in RNA, and Guanine, which pairs with Cytosine. We'll call this ATGC.
If you make a species with ATGC, they would only be able to produce Food on planets that are also ATGC-based, because this is what your proteins are formed from--without compatible proteins, they can't eat the local flora or fauna, and either have to import Food in from their other colonies (eg you would make a farm world that produces a surplus of Food that can be exported throughout your empire), or else they could buy Food on the Galactic Market.

This wouldn't necessarily affect the habitability percentage, as you can still live on a planet with alien DNA, but it'll make your life harder and you'll have to think more carefully about where you settle. Even Devouring Swarms would have to think twice about devouring an incompatible planet! (jk they'd still eat you, but maybe their fleets could become weaker afterwards because they don't gain any nourishment from you)

Other potential DNA bases could include:

• Xanthine, which binds to Cytosine (thus an alternative to Guanine)
• Hypoxanthine (another Guanine alternative)
• Diaminopurine (an alternative to Adenine)
• or any combination of the above

During galaxy generation, you can pick an option:

• All - all habitable planets share your DNA base pairs, just as in vanilla Stellaris
• High - 75% of habitable worlds share DNA
• Mid - 50%
• Low - 25%

This way, you can pick and choose how difficult you want your game to be in a way that's more meaningful and allows for greater storytelling opportunities than Spaceborne Aliens having +45% Armor on Admiral mode, or the AI getting −20% Ship Upkeep on Commodore mode. This is numbers-based too, but they're numbers that are far more narrative-driven, and telling narratives with our aliens is one of Stellaris' greatest strengths--this plays to those strengths.

Nucleic Acids​

DNA uses paired nucleobases, in addition to a backbone of sugar: DNA uses deoxyribose, but other alternatives are possible, such as:

• PNA (peptide nucleic acid)
• GNA (glycol nucleic acid)
• CeNA (cyclohexene nucleic acid)
• HNA (1,5-anhydrohexitol nucleic acid)
• FANA (fluoro arabino nucleic acid)
• Z-DNA (just DNA, but the double-helix is shaped like a mirror image)
• A-DNA (just DNA, but the double-helix is shorter and more compact)

In-game, the nucleic acid you choose would also match the vast majority of organic empires, but one or two empires (Xenophobe or Xenophile) would use exotic acids, and could either:

• View all other alien life as exotic curiosities to be catalogued (thus a boost to your relationship)
• View all other alien life as aberrations to the natural order (thus a penalty to your relationship)
• Materialists that don't even consider you to be life at all, and require SERIOUS convincing

Additionally you could have Megacorps who want to harvest alien sugars to make snack foods (a Devouring Swarm for Megacorps!), or you could develop bioweapons tailored to specifically kill xenos with particular nucleic acids. There could be anomalies where you discover alien wildlife with a rare nucleic acid, and the remains of a long-since fallen empire that, just as with the Materialist empire, your scouts don't even register as life.

I think this would result in some great storytelling possibilities, and it also serves to make the game a little bit harder.... if you want it to be.

 

[InvisibleBison]

I don't see how this would produce any significant changes. So what if I can only build farming districts on 1/4 of the planets in the galaxy? I only need a handful of farming planets to meet my food requirements.

 

[kwanzaabot]

I don't see how this would produce any significant changes. So what if I can only build farming districts on 1/4 of the planets in the galaxy? I only need a handful of farming planets to meet my food requirements.

• Because then instead of just colonizing every world in their little clump, the AI may be able to take over planets with better resources, by being forced to travel further afield to found colonies, improving their own economies and increasing their score, giving them a better chance at winning. Makes the game harder.
• Roleplaying possibilities. Which as I said, is one of this game's greatest strengths. Not everything has to be numbers numbers numbers, though this does produce numbers as well, and they're more meaningful to the player.

But if you don't like the mechanics I've offered, you're more than welcome to actually contribute. Go ahead, come up with mechanics of your own.

 

[InvisibleBison]

Because then instead of just colonizing every world in their little clump, the AI may be able to take over planets with better resources, by being forced to travel further afield to found colonies, improving their own economies and increasing their score, giving them a better chance at winning. Makes the game harder.

As I said in my previous post, I think you are overestimating the degree to which this would change how the game works.

But if you don't like the mechanics I've offered, you're more than welcome to actually contribute. Go ahead, come up with mechanics of your own.

So I'm not allowed to criticize your ideas if I'm not making suggestions of my own?

 

[beleester]

I don't see how this would produce any significant changes. So what if I can only build farming districts on 1/4 of the planets in the galaxy? I only need a handful of farming planets to meet my food requirements.

Also, "only a quarter of your planets have a worthwhile amount of farming districts" is pretty common already. If a planet only has like, 3 farms available, it's probably not efficient to use it as an agri-world.

Also... you could just plant Earth crops in xeno soil, instead of trying to find a new edible crop on every planet you visit. A lot of "+X Farming district" stuff is things like "rich soil" or "big river", not "edible xenoflora." Plants don't need to consume particular amino acids, they just need enough nutrients in the soil.

Also also, DNA types are definitely not the right way to divide up "what you can eat" - you could have two species that use different DNA to code for the same amino acids. Amino acids would be closer - the wrong amino acid, or the wrong chirality ("right-handed molecules") can be indigestible. But even then it would be complicated because carbs are still digestible (so you'd get calories, but not the nutrients you need), and of course plenty of life on Earth is made out of the same amino acids but is still toxic or inedible, because life is a constant arms race to not get eaten by other life.

If you want farming worlds to be more rare, I would rather add a random "incompatible biochemistry" modifier ("It's life, Jim, but not as we know it"), rather than try to make a scientific explanation and get things almost-but-not-quite-right.

 

[kwanzaabot]

As I said in my previous post, I think you are overestimating the degree to which this would change how the game works.

So I'm not allowed to criticize your ideas if I'm not making suggestions of my own?

You're right, I apologize.
At the time I'd just come back from a thread over at the Crusader Kings forum that had received a legendary number of downvotes without any explanation, and I was feeling a bit prickly.

 

[NevanMasterson]

You're right, I apologize.
At the time I'd just come back from a thread over at the Crusader Kings forum that had received a legendary number of downvotes without any explanation, and I was feeling a bit prickly.

I... I think I'm in love with you.

Someone on the internet accepting they were wrong?! Please, kind sir, allow me to kiss you.

But that aside, your suggestion does seem super cool, but probably not vallina stellaris material. Sounds like a 10/10 mod concept that would probably donate to, but probably not something I can ever the actual devs ever bothering to do

 

[kwanzaabot]

I... I think I'm in love with you.

Someone on the internet accepting they were wrong?! Please, kind sir, allow me to kiss you.

But that aside, your suggestion does seem super cool, but probably not vallina stellaris material. Sounds like a 10/10 mod concept that would probably donate to, but probably not something I can ever the actual devs ever bothering to do

Haha, thanks. Frankly I've been happier since I've been staying away from the Crusader Kings forum. There's something about that place....

Yeah, now that I've gotten a bit of distance from the idea, I think it needs some tweaks.
Maybe I'll add it to the "maybe I'll mod this some day" pile of ideas... I could see it working as a series of planetary modifiers, as Beleester suggested.